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Ammatoa Custom Village

Ammatoa Traditional Village is in the village of Tana Towa, District Kajang, Bulukumba, South Sulawesi. The entrance gate is in the form of wooden pavilion with a roof of straw with shades of black hue. There is a large hanging sign that reads "Welcome to Ammatoa Indigenous Region".

The black color within the village looks like it has become a symbol of the village community. Tana Towa is inhabited by Kajang tribe. Black, for them, is the philosophy of life. From the darkness of the uterus in the mother's womb back into the darkness of the grave when they died. The black color is also become the garments of the villagers in every day life, start from gloves, clothes to a hat to cover their head.

When signing in to the neighborhood of Ammatoa indigenous villages, we will be greeted by rocks and the shady large trees along the driveway. This situation is not only found at the entrance of the village, but also the entire region that is still a large forest area. The name of Ammatoa is taken from the name of the headchief from Kajang tribe. For daily communication, they use the language of Konjo.

Occasionally, we can see the elongated shaped stage houses made of wood. If we can see the detail, we will find out that for all the houses in this villages has almost the same shape and facing to the same direction. In the yard of each homes, they community have their own pets, whether chicken, cow or horse.
In daily life, Kajang people still embrace some various myths. It is not meant to scare people but to keep people's behavior in order to remain harmonious with nature.

According to Ammatoa, the life here is governed by Pasang. Pasang is kind of unwritten advices that been inform orally to the ancestors. Pasang is include some elements in the life of either set the field survival and other.
The existence of Ammatoa is also has duty to pray for the man and the whole nature in order to avoid danger. Kajang people somehow believe that the area where they live now, Tana Towa, is the oldest ground in the world before the existence of the life.

The traditional village of Ammatoa is practically untouched by modernization. You will not find electronic items, mobile phones and electricity. Even the car and the motorcycle is not able to enter into the settlement, which the road is still dominated by rocks. The marquee at the entrance gate to the village is just like a barrier of modern life and the indigenous life of Kajang tribe.